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Saturday, July 20, 2013

An Orthodox Jewish supported organization, which claims it
can cure gays and lesbians through conversion therapy, was slapped with a fraud
lawsuit, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. court.

Just a month after a gay healing Christian group apologized
to the public and announced plans to shut down, a similar Jewish group faces
the first of its kind consumer fraud lawsuit.

On Friday, the New Jersey Supreme Court will hear arguments
in the lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center against Jews offering
new alternatives to heal homosexuals.

The lawsuit claims that JONAH’s practices violate the New
Jersey Consumer Fraud Act by falsely promising that it can help gays change
their sexuality to straight.

"JONAH profits from shameful and dangerous attempts to
fix something that is not broken", Christine P. Sun, the deputy legal
director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said.

"Despite the consensus of leading professional
organizations that reparative therapy does not work, these con men continue to
prey on vulnerable gays and lesbians, steal thousands of dollars from them and
inflict significant damage on them," she said.

The lawsuit is being brought by four young men and two of
their parents, who claim that JONAH convinced them to pay for services by
making false statements that sexual orientation is a choice that can be
changed.

JONAH has no official denominational affiliation, but its
work has been endorsed by leading Orthodox Jewish rabbis and institutions.